Jonathan Larson was a musician and writer living in 1960’s-1990’s New York. He wrote the hit Broadway musical Rent, and his less-known rock monologue, Tick Tick Boom. Recently, Lin Manuel Miranda and other writers took on the rock monologue, and created a movie based on it, which has now aired on Netflix. 

Tick Tick Boom follows Andrew Garfield as Jonathan Larson, who struggles to finish writing his musical in time for its workshop performance that he had been planning for his entire life. Larson also has difficulty facing how much time he has left before he turns 30, which he believes is when he loses his big chance for stardom. Jonathan has to juggle his relationships with the people he loves and his career path, driving people away in the process. 

One thing that I found prevalent in this movie was the subtle messaging of the central theme: how life has become a ticking time bomb for the protagonist. Throughout the movie, an ominous ticking noise can be heard in the background, getting louder in more stressful scenes. It helps display how pressured Jonathan was to devote all his time and energy to his art, pushing all others away. By implementing this unique way of editing, the viewer is put into Larson’s point of view. We feel everything that Larson experiences and are more connected to him, since everyone can relate to being pressured under a deadline. 

What’s also neat about the style of the movie, is that it’s cut with snippets of home video and a performance of the rock monologue, also titled Tick Tick Boom. By adding the home videos into the movie, it develops the world and characters more, showing the audience that these people had histories and lives before what takes place in the movie. It adds charm that the original rock monologue had lacked and humanized Larson even further. 

The choreography and direction of the movie are also completely stunning. This makes sense, considering Lin Manuel Miranda is the director. Miranda also wrote and starred in Hamilton, the award-winning Broadway musical, and In The Heights. A scene never becomes boring because of how frequently the songs keep coming. 

The characters are also all very interesting and captivating, especially the love interest, Susan, and Michael, who’s Larson’s best friend. Susan and Michael both had dreams of pursuing musical careers, but chose different paths because of opportunities that arose to them; exactly the opposite of what Larson wishes. He fears that all of his work for his musical will become nothing more than a fantasy, and the two people closest to him prove this even more. 

Of course, no movie is perfect, and Tick Tick Boom is no exception. Because of how frequent the songs are, the more immature lyrics stand out more often. Even though there are many great songs as a result of this movie, some of them have lyrics that sound artificial at best, and childish at worst. It’s jarring to hear something extremely thoughtful in a song only for that same song to compare something to “a wealthy girl’s legs.”

In the end, Tick Tick Boom is a genuinely amazing and emotional movie with very few flaws and much to gain from watching it. The characters are deeply relatable and charming, and the overall atmosphere set by the movie is enthralling. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys musicals, or emotional yet hilarious movies. I rate Tick Tick Boom a 4.5/5 stars, and believe everyone should give it a watch.